Spongers prevail

TARPON SPRINGS — The Sebring Blue Streaks had a few first-inning jitters, which they were unable to overcome in Thursday's Class 6A-Region 3 quarterfinal game against Tarpon Springs. The Spongers scored three runs in the bottom of the first and never looked back, taking a 4-0 victory to bring an end to the Blue Streaks' season.

"In the grand scheme of things, if this is the worst thing that ever happens to them, I told them they'd be the luckiest men alive because losing a baseball game is minute compared to other things," said Sebring coach Buck Rapp.

The Blue Streaks had several good scoring opportunities, beginning right from the start, as Seth Abeln and Dane Maddox drew walks and advanced on Nate Greene's sacrifice. Tarpon Springs pitcher Michael Dunnigan was able to get out of the inning unscathed with a strikeout and a groundout.

In the bottom of the first, a tight strike zone worked against Blue Streaks' starter Aaron Hart, along with a pair of walks, two hits and an error that led to three Spongers' runs.

"I think we had a few butterflies in the first inning," Rapp said. "After that, I think Aaron settled down and threw a good game."

The Blue Streaks had another excellent chance to get back into the game in the fourth, as Wyatt Johnson and Cullen Lovett hit one-out singles and a two-out infield single by Kyle Cunningham had the bases loaded, but a Sebring runner was thrown out trying to get back to third, ending the threat.

"We had our chances here and there; we just didn't get the big hit when we needed it," Rapp said.

It was more of the same in the fifth, as the Blue Streaks got a double off the bat of Abeln and a single by Greene, but could not capitalize, as the Dunnigan continued to frustrate the Sebring hitters with men on base.

"He was just throwing fastballs and the dice just kind of fell his way today," said Cunningham, who was the other player in the game to collect two hits. "We put the ball in play, but just not at the right time and left too many men on base."

The Spongers added an insurance run without the aid of a hit in the fifth to make it 4-0 and Cunningham's single to lead-off the seventh was Sebring's final hit of the game.

Rapp said the team had no reasons to hang their heads and should be proud of what they accomplished during the season.

"I've said it all year, I'm so proud of this group," he said. "We've had adversity throughout the season and we've had to overcome this or that, especially this group of seniors. I can't say enough about them and I wish them all the best."

It was the Blue Streaks' first appearance in a regional game since 2009 and Cunningham said it was definitely something to remember.

"It was a lot of fun," he said. "I came here one time in my freshman year, but I wasn't playing, so playing in it was definitely a lot of fun."

Cunningham is looking forward to joining many of his current, along with several former teammates, when he walks on at South Florida Community College next baseball season.

"It's going to be a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to it," he said. "The coaches are excited to have me come up there. "We'll have Aaron (Hart) and Seth (Abeln) and I think Zach Osha is going to try walking on too."

The Blue Streaks will lose eight seniors to graduation, but Rapp was hopeful the returning players saw what it takes to advance to regionals and carry the torch forward.

"These younger kids, now they know what it's like to go to the postseason and hopefully they learn from this and build upon it for next season," he said.